FTSE STI closed 2,926.55, up 3.70 points or +0.13% with a total volume of 1.16b and a total value of S$1.09b. Total number of advance vs decline was 191 vs 210. Of the 30 component index stocks, 20 closed positive, 7 closed negative and 3 remained unchanged. The top 5 gainer component stocks were :-
1. Jardine C&C +0.580
2. F&N +0.120
3. HKLand US$ +0.040
4. Genting +0.040
5. SembCorp +0.040
5. SingTel +0.040
The top 5 loser component stocks were :-
1. JMH 400US$ -0.760
2. UOB -0.300
3. CityDev -0.080
4. JSH 500US$ -0.060
5. SIA Engg -0.040
US markets fell at least 1.5% yesterday night after a worse than expected existing home sales data that sent investors worried of the slump in housing could cause US to go into a double-dip recession. Asian bourses took the cue and traded in the negative region for the day. Nikkei closed -1.66%, SSE -2.03% and HSI -0.11%. STI supported at 2,900 was trading in the negative region for most of the day but with a not so weak European markets opening and a positive DJ future, bargain hunter and short-covering near closing reversed the loss to close in positive with 20 of the component stocks managed to close positive. Investors will be looking at tonight US new home sales data. With yesterday worse than expected data, investors should be expecting another not so good data.
